{"id":205,"date":"2020-09-16T12:33:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T16:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/?p=205"},"modified":"2020-09-16T15:48:32","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T19:48:32","slug":"welcome-to-woodbine-tot-lot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/2020\/09\/16\/welcome-to-woodbine-tot-lot\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Woodbine Tot Lot!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A young cancer survivor’s selfless wish to revamp a neighborhood playground has been granted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kate Casper<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


In Fall 2019, the Make-a-Wish Mid-Atlantic team began fundraising to fulfill a 4-year-old cancer survivor\u2019s wish to rebuild the Woodbine Tot Lot playground in Alexandria. This boy\u2019s name is Whitaker Weinburger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After battling Stage Four neuroblastoma, undergoing hospitalizations, treatments, chemotherapy, and radiation, Whitaker went to the playground with his family to facilitate his recovery. \u201cAs he recovered and felt less crummy, he spent more and more time at the park, learning to climb and discovering that his little legs could run and jump,\u201d said Erin Weinburger, Whitaker\u2019s mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Four-year-old Whitaker Weinburger cheering on the T.C. Titans Varsity Boys Basketball team in a Titans T-shirt dyed yellow, his favorite color, by seniors Kate Casper, Nyla Fox, and Lily Grove. Basketball players and Theogony writers signed the back of it. Photo taken by Lesli Creedon. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the help of local businesses, individual donors, and fundraising events, enough money was raised for the park to begin construction. The \u201cWhitaker\u2019s Wish Basketball Fundraiser” was hosted at T.C. Williams in February, where $880 was raised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the global pandemic, the playground\u2019s construction was on schedule and was completed in July by the Windmill Hill Design Build and Rosemont Landscape and Lawn Care teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 23, Whitaker\u2019s family, Mayor Justin Wilson, Sheriff Lawhorne, and Make-a-Wish Mid-Atlantic CEO Lesli Creedon, among others attended the official ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the playground. Due to health concerns, masks and social distancing were employed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitaker\u2019s father Seth Weinburger said in an email to those involved with the fundraising initiative, \u201cWe wish everyone could have been there today to see Whit’s face as he rushed from structure to structure.  Just pure joy without a care in the world–a moment in time we could never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The playground is located at 1509 Woodbine Street and is open to the public between 8 am and 6 pm every day. The playground features the main play structure, fire truck, swing set, climbing wall, seesaw, and picnic tables, along with a mirror that says, \u201cI am STRONG, I am BRAVE, I am WHITAKER!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A mirror located on the right side of the playground celebrates Whitaker and his selfless initiative. Photo by Kate Casper. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Whitaker is not the only \u201cWish Kid\u201d in Alexandria: There are more. With support from local officials, individuals, and businesses, more wishes can be granted for brave young survivors like Whitaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on Whitaker’s Wish, click here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/whitakers-wish-comes-true\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To watch Whitaker’s “Thank you” video to donors and supporters, click here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yxg3wdc4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message from the Make-a-Wish Mid-Atlantic team:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granting wishes takes a community. After working alongside other Alexandria businesses, restaurants and supporters, we are thrilled to announce that Whitaker\u2019s wish to give a playground to his city came true! Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses and now Whitaker and kids just like him will enjoy the new Woodbine Tot Lot for years to come. To get involved and to help close the gap between wishes that are granted and those that are still waiting, please visit<\/em> midatlantic.wish.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

More pictures below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The plaque at the entrance of the playground lists the names of patrons, small businesses, and other organizations that contributed to the fundraising efforts. Photo taken by Kate Casper. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Street view of Woodbine Tot Lot at 1509 Woodbine Street in Alexandria. Photo taken by Kate Casper. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
“TC Titans” are featured on the plaque, listed as “Bark Chip Buddies” for contributing to the fundraising efforts. Photo taken by Kate Casper. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A young cancer survivor’s selfless wish to revamp a neighborhood playground has been granted Kate Casper In Fall 2019, the Make-a-Wish Mid-Atlantic team began fundraising to fulfill a 4-year-old cancer survivor\u2019s wish to rebuild the Woodbine Tot Lot playground in Alexandria. This boy\u2019s name is Whitaker Weinburger.  After battling Stage Four neuroblastoma, undergoing hospitalizations, treatments, chemotherapy, and radiation, Whitaker went to the playground with his family to facilitate his recovery. \u201cAs he recovered and felt less crummy, he spent more and more time at the park, learning to climb and discovering that his little legs could run and jump,\u201d said Erin Weinburger, Whitaker\u2019s mother.  With the help of local businesses, individual donors, and fundraising events, enough money was raised for the park to begin construction. The \u201cWhitaker\u2019s Wish Basketball Fundraiser” was hosted at T.C. Williams in February, where $880 was raised. Despite the global pandemic, the playground\u2019s construction was on schedule and was completed in July by the Windmill Hill Design Build and Rosemont Landscape and Lawn Care teams. On July 23, Whitaker\u2019s family, Mayor Justin Wilson, Sheriff Lawhorne, and Make-a-Wish Mid-Atlantic CEO Lesli Creedon, among others attended the official ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the playground. Due to health concerns, masks and social distancing were employed. Whitaker\u2019s father Seth Weinburger said in an email to those involved with the fundraising initiative, \u201cWe wish everyone could have been there today to see Whit’s face as he rushed from structure to structure.  Just pure joy without a care in the world–a moment in time we could never forget.\u201d The playground is located at 1509 Woodbine Street and is open to the public between 8 am and 6 pm every day. The playground features the main play structure, fire truck, swing set, climbing wall, seesaw, and picnic tables, along with a mirror that says, \u201cI am STRONG, I am BRAVE, I am WHITAKER!\u201d Whitaker is not the only \u201cWish Kid\u201d in Alexandria: There are more. With support from local officials, individuals, and businesses, more wishes can be granted for brave young survivors like Whitaker. For more information on Whitaker’s Wish, click here: https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/whitakers-wish-comes-true\/ To watch Whitaker’s “Thank you” video to donors and supporters, click here: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yxg3wdc4 Message from the Make-a-Wish Mid-Atlantic team: Granting wishes takes a community. After working alongside other Alexandria businesses, restaurants and supporters, we are thrilled to announce that Whitaker\u2019s wish to give a playground to his city came true! Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses and now Whitaker and kids just like him will enjoy the new Woodbine Tot Lot for years to come. To get involved and to help close the gap between wishes that are granted and those that are still waiting, please visit midatlantic.wish.org. More pictures below:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/P1020068-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions\/232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}